Never Alone
by Fei4
Summary: This takes place after Shiva. Ziva is still dealing with the loss of her father, Bodnar is still on the run and Tony…well Tony bought a bigger bed. As Ziva and team recover they will have to rely on one another and accept that none of them can do this alone. Tiva
1. Chapter 1

Never Alone

Chapter 1

AN: Like many people I was inspired to write this after watching Shabbat and Shiva. I think this is really the season for Tony and Ziva. It's about time! For anyone who is not up to date on their episodes this season there will be some major spoilers. You are warned.

*The title is based on what Tony said to Ziva in Hebrew before she boarded the plane in Shiva. He said, "You are not alone."

NCIS3

Tony drummed his fingers against his cluttered desk. The tension at NCIS headquarters was absolutely palpable. It had been nine days since Eli David and Jackie Vance had been shot dead by a rogue Mossad agent with dreams of war and a power position as the new director. It had been eight days since an international manhunt had begun to bring this murderer in. It had been seven days since Jackie Vance and Eli David had been laid to rest. Tomorrow Ziva would be flying home having settled some of her father's affairs and observing the seven days of Shiva.

Tony glanced at his phone. No calls, no new leads and nothing to show for seven days. The wrath of Gibbs was upon them and everyone was desperate for some resolution, or at the very least Ilan Bodnar's head mounted on a pike and paraded around the town square a la Sofia Coppola's _Marie Antoinette_. Not her best work but he had been dating some 20 something year old at the time that just _loved _Kirsten Dunst. Not that that was important. It wasn't important at all but his mind had been skipping through topics like an old record player since Gibbs, Vance and Craig had headed to Vance's office ten minutes ago.

Vance hadn't been in all week and now he was back looking like a stone pillar, Gibbs equally has hard, and Deputy Director Jerome Craig looking like the neighborhood runt trying to tag along with the tough kids the whole way. Had there been some new intel? Was Bodnar cooling his heals in some foreign jail cell after being taken in by another agency? After all every allied country had been put on high alert. Or maybe Bodnar had made his way back home to Israel…To finish what he started. A pencil snapped.

"Tony."

DiNozzo looked sharply at McGee who was staring at him over his computer screen.

"Have you heard from Ziva?" He asked with some attempt at a casual tone but it seemed little Timmy was worried too.

"Not since Friday. She told me what flight she was on. She'll be back tomorrow, " he said distractedly. He was sure that he heard some raised voices coming through the office door on the second floor. Hm…that was supposed to be soundproof.

"Have you tried calling her since then?" McGee asked with some terseness as he glanced at the director's door as well.

"You know McGee if you are concerned why don't you call her. I'm not the only one with her number here!" Tony snapped. It wasn't Tim he was frustrated with, but Tim had been the one to poke the bear so let him deal with the consequences.

"Tony, I'm sure she is fine," Tim tried with a firm tone, not thrown off my Tony's sharp response and uncharacteristically serious mood. He had been witness to them before and they were strangely almost all linked to a possible threat to a certain former Mossad officer.

Tony did not bother pointing out the turnabout McGee had just done in first showing concern about the lack of communication with Ziva and then reassuring him that she was fine. He simply answered, "I know McGee."

He finally dropped his eyes from the office door and looked at McGee. How much would they have to sacrifice for this job? It seemed at times like maybe a simpler life would have not involved so much pain.

"We got to find this guy. We have two people we care about that deserve that," he managed with deadly calm.

Tim merely nodded. Understanding the resolve and the desire to give Ziva and Vance the revenge they had coming. They would make sure they got it.

The trill of Tony's phone made them both start suddenly. Tony grabbed at it too quick to feign cool but he didn't care.

"DiNozzo," He said quickly only to be deflated by the voice of unfamiliar man. "Yes, this is Anthony DiNozzo, and yes that is my address, now…"

Tim turned his attention away from his team member as he realized that it was not Ziva on the line. Tony continued with his conversation, getting more annoyed by the second. He had more on his mind than this bullshit.

"Yes I want it delivered, but no now is not a good time. I have this thing called a job. No I scheduled it to be delivered after 5 pm. No I can't come now. What do you mean you're going to leave it there!"

Tim went back to finalizing his case report as Tony argued with the mystery person on the phone. Whoever it was picked a bad time to give Tony DiNozzo any bad news.

"Look I don't care if your boss will be angry, take it back to the store!"

The unlocking of Vance's door drew every agent on the floors attention up to the upper level and agents quickly tried to look busy as Vance, Gibbs and Craig walked to MTAC. Tony tried to inconspicuously lower his cell phone out of sight until they had passed the security scan and entered the room, and then he immediately brought the phone back to his ear.

"Yeah, you think your boss will get mad, well mine is on the line talking to heads of foreign intelligence agencies right now trying to avoid an international crisis and wouldn't be thrilled if I skipped out early because you couldn't see the difference between 2 pm and 5 pm on a delivery slip!"

There was a pause as Tony listened to the sounds of the guy on the other end laugh at him and then unceremoniously hang up.

"Yee ahhh!" DiNozzo let out in frustration as he slammed his phone down. "Can you believe that?" He exclaimed looking at Tim.

"You know Tony we are trying to keep that whole international crisis thing under wraps. I don't know if you should have said that…"

"Oh relax McGeek, the delivery guy for Mattress Depot can't read numbers on a chart never mind organize a terrorist cell."

Tim shrugged his disapproval but knew he wasn't going to start anything over it, so he focused instead on the other piece of information Tony let slip.

"So you bought a new mattress…" He ventured.

Tony barely acknowledged this as he had begun drumming his fingers again and was busy staring at the entrance to MTAC.

"How's your back McGee? Feel like moving a mattress?"

"Tony, what do you think Gibbs would do if he found out we left work to move your mattress? If you haven't noticed he hasn't been in a good mood lately."

"Come on McGee, we haven't had lunch yet. We'll run out, move the mattress, grab some lunch, my treat of course, and we make it back in no time," he tried to reason. Really they could use a break anyway and his very expensive new mattress was sitting on a street corner right now!

McGee rolled his eyes, "Tony we haven't taken a lunch break all week and you know Gibbs wouldn't have to say something he would just look at us like we had run over a puppy or something."

There was a clear expectation when there was a personal case involved that no one took a lunch break, left at the usual time or in general relented from an all-consuming hunt for the truth/suspect.

"McGee we are fresh out of leads, there are no new cases at the moment and we are just going to sit here and wait for something to break. Come on it's Sunday, we are here on the weekend call shift and there is nothing we can do…"

"But Gibbs…"

"…Will understand when we bring back lunch and fresh coffee for him. Come on McGee I have a brand new queen sized posture support mattress with a _plush_ pillow top sitting up against the side of my building right now."

For good measure Tony gave him the puppy eyes. Seriously he had finally made the decision to upgrade his sleeping arrangements and now his new bed was gathering dirt in the streets.

"Fine Tony, lets do this quick."

NCIS3

Ziva let her fingers trail over the number of books in her father's study. The fine leather spines were a bit dusty, save a few that her father must have read more recently. The last remnants of his time in the house were painfully visible and Ziva had almost whished she could have stayed at a hotel.

But that would not have been right. She was expected to stay in her father's house and receive victors with their arms full of more food than she could possibly eat in the short time she planned to stay in Israel. Her extended family had been dropping by with frequency and though she appreciated their company and support she was happy to finally have the house quiet.

Coming across the title she was looking for she pulled the book from the shelf. _The Odyssey_. It was the story of a Greek hero who found himself far from home after the Trojan War. He had to fight horrible monsters and deal with an insubordinate crew and overcome his own weaknesses in order to return home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. It took him 20 years to do it, but he did eventually return home and reunite with his family and reclaim his throne in Ithaca. Ziva's jaw clenched for a moment. This was her father's favorite book. Hesitantly she opened it, flipping through the pages until she found what she had been looking for, an old brass key carefully tucked in the pages looking dull and unimportant.

Ziva carefully picked it up and slid the book back onto the shelf. This key was just one of her father's many secrets. Striding to his desk she pulled out one of the drawers. Many of his files were missing. Most likely taken before she even arrived in Israel and now what was left were mostly personal documents pertaining to day-to-day living. She was sure that any sensitive documents had been meticulously collected, but what she wanted had nothing to do with Mossad or international espionage.

Moving the row of folders back she spied the brown seemingly solid bottom of the drawer and reached down to press the hidden catch, popping the secret false bottom open. Lifting it out of the she revealed the locked tin box that lay hidden. Her father would never let her look in there when she was child. It was that way since her mother had died.

Carefully she lifted the tin box out the drawer laying it down on top of the desk. The brass key in her hand matched the brass lock on the box and she almost felt guilty for opening it. This was obviously something her father had wanted locked away. But he was gone now…

She slid the key into the lock and remained impassive as she heard the click of the box unlocking, but as she lifted the lid her resolve crumpled as a hint of yellow gold caught the light. Tears had dropped down her cheeks before she had a chance to check them.

It was still here. It was exactly as she had remembered it. Gingerly she reached into the box and pulled out the gold plated music box. Its small-engraved patterns were simple and beautiful and felt cool to the touch as she skimmed her fingers lightly over it. Coming to the small lever she pushed it to the side causing the oval hatch on top of the box to spring open and reveal a royal blue bird. Music began to play and Ziva stifled a sob as she snapped the lever back enclosing the bird and ending the song.

Ziva held her mother's music box giving into the desire to cry, no longer fighting her grief. She and Tali had fought one night after their mother's death over the music box and their father had come in, angry that they could not share their mother's memento.

He had taken it and put it in this box over 20 years ago.

Tali and Ziva had felt such shame at fighting over their mother's treasured possession that neither asked about it again. She should have let Tali have it, but she had been young and too full of her own pain and anger to consider her little sister's feelings. Their father had given their mother the box as a gift after coming home from an assignment early in their marriage, before they had children. Ziva's earliest memories of childhood involved the music from this box. She could remember moving about their small childhood home in the morning, her mother letting the music box play as she brushed her hair and dressed for the day. Tali loved the music from the little golden box and sometimes she would just sit near it while their mother got ready.

Wiping hastily at her cheeks Ziva glanced at the other contents of the tin box. There was her grandfather's watch in a wooden case, a small stack of old photos and an antique revolver with an ivory handle. Where the gun was from perhaps she did not want to know. There were many of her father's secrets that she would happily stay ignorant too from this point on. There was no use having anger in your heart for a dead man.

Now was the time to return home and help take down the man responsible for his death. And after that, well who knows. She hadn't planned that far. But it was going to involve letting go. She had begun this before her father's death, but now it seemed even more important. She had let go of her anger, of the feelings of betrayal and hurt. She had wonderful people n her life, a job that she loved most days and…That's where she wasn't sure. But she did know one thing; in D.C. she was not alone. Tony had made sure she knew that. Tony…

The telltale unlatching of a door lock had Ziva snapping out of her thoughts quickly. She was not near her weapon, as she had taken it off in the house. Quickly she snatched the revolver and checked the chambers. It was loaded. Well it had better still work.

She positioned herself to left of the door, out the direct line of sight of an intruder entering and raised her weapon with practiced ease.


	2. Chapter 2

Never Alone

Chapter 2

Coming Home

"Ziva, put the gun down." The cavalier voice of Asaf Agassi sounded from down the hall. Lowering her weapon, Ziva wiped at her face hurriedly to rid it of any traces of tears even as she felt her lip curl in annoyance. This man was primed to take over as Director of Mossad now that Bodnar had been declared a traitor and it seemed that he felt that entitled him to enter the former director's home without knocking.

Opening the door to the office she spied Asaf at the top of stairs. "Make yourself at home," She said curtly. Asaf was a few years older than her and she had only worked with him in the field a couple times, but she knew him well. He was good at politics and had wormed his way in close to her father just like all the other power hungry leeches.

Ziva swallowed her anger back and waited for Asaf's explanation. His sharp blue suit and expensive tie let her know that he was here in an official capacity. It was too formal dress for Asaf in most cases, but maybe he was preparing to take on a more an important role. It was a bitter thought that he father's death was this man's opportunity to reach new heights in his career.

"Ah Ziva, I think we both know that I have entered this home before your arrival. And now that you are planning to return to the U.S. I have returned to conduct a more thorough search," he said with some attempt at an apology in his tone.

"The house may have belonged to the _director_ of Mossad Asaf, but it does not belong to Mossad," Ziva bit back trying to calm the anger beginning to seethe under her skin. She could not afford to attack a member of Mossad at this point, even though it would be mildly satisfying to shove this ladder climber down the tiled stairs of her father's home it would not be worth cost.

"I am aware, however your father left specific instructions with the agency in the event of his death. Those instructions included details of sensitive materials and several personal back-up files that have been stowed within the house," Asaf elaborated while leaning against the gleaming tiled wall. " We were not able to retrieve all of them, and did not want to leave the house in shambles when you were due to arrive," He sighed suddenly seeming older than his 37 years. "I understand that your father left the house to you, and be assured we will take care in our search."

Ziva swallowed her anger and pride. She knew that she could not argue with orders her father had left for his operatives and she had little doubt of the truthfulness of Asaf's story. Her father was a paranoid man. He most likely had left them several locations in which they would have to retrieve sensitive materials or back-up files. At times he had not trusted his own people, fearing traitors and spies. If only he had allowed that paranoia be cast to the man at his right hand. If only…

"Yes, he left it to me, but I am signing it over to my aunt. So it is her house you must refrain from destroying."

Asaf gave a curt nod, most likely this information was not new to him, but he was going to pretend he was hearing it for the first time.

"Well then we will take great care with your aunt's house."

It was at this point Ziva noticed his eyes straying to the office behind her and the box she had open on the desk.

"I am surprised you are not keeping a home here Ziva." His eyes continued to look on suspiciously at the box.

Before Ziva could respond her had shifted his weight foreword like he wished to enter the room and said, "Now what have you found…"

Ziva stepped more fully into the path of the door and spoke clearly, "This is not my home anymore and I have found nothing that would interest you. Unless you are interested in old pictures."

Asaf stepped closer reminding her of his height advantage over her and said in a lowered voice, "I am sorry Ziva, but trust is now in short supply at Mossad. Forgive me for seeing for myself."

He stepped around her, crowding greatly into her space as she did not budge. Ziva did not even turn to look as he moved into the room and examined her father's keepsakes. Hearing him begin to turn after inspecting the box she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Turning she leveled him with a stare that had cause Tony to cringe a few occasions. "Satisfied?"

A grin pulled at the edges of his mouth. Ziva could only guess the lewd ideas flitting through his brain. She could practically see him replaying the tryst they had when they were young and stupid and thankful to have just made it back home alive. Asaf did apparently have enough good sense not to bring this up however for he merely nodded.

"Yes, now are you packed? I have a car downstairs waiting to take you to the airport."

He was already heading for the stairs and for the first time Ziva noticed a small contingent of men waiting outside, presumably to go through the house and serve as body guards most likely. Ziva moved to the office to retrieve the box. This was the only thing she whished to take.

"Yes, I'm ready." Ready to go home.

TT

Tony sucked nosily on his soda. Just what the doctor ordered. Deli sandwich, a soda, and some chips. Basic and delicious. Tim stood next to him the elevator, eyeing him in annoyance.

"You know Tony, you never did tell me why you got a new mattress," He began before taken a quiet sip of his own soda.

Tony eyed McGee from the corner of his eye and pooped the straw out of his mouth. They had somehow avoided this conversation and Tony had thought that it wasn't going to be brought up.

"What do you mean McGee?" He gave Tim a look like he was trying to hold a runner at first with a squinty eye. "People buy new mattresses everyday. Their mattress gets old they buy a new one. Life goes on." With his point made Tony popped the straw back in his mouth and continued to suck noisily.

Tim gave Tony a speculative look, one eyebrow slightly raised as he weighed the likelihood that Tony was telling him the truth. It was Tony, so that made it not very likely. Not in this situation anyway. Tony was not a simple man, but he lived like one. Simple apartment. Nice TV. Simple and stylish furniture, little in the way of frills and a twin bed. And why a twin bed? That too was simple, to keep people away. So why the change?

"You sure that's all Tony?" Well he was one foot in here already; he might as well call Tony's bluff.

The slurping abruptly stopped.

"Uh yah…" Tony answered in his typical sardonic way. He shot Tim a look as if daring him to continue with this line of questioning.

"So it has nothing to do with Ziva staying with you last week…"

Tony whirled on McGee, done playing the cool cucumber he approached the younger man in an annoyed, assertive manner.

"Look I don't know what you are getting at here but I can assure it has absolutely nothing …"

The elevator doors opened as they arrived at the right floor.

"…to do with Ziva."

"What has nothing to do with Ziva?"

Both agents turned to look at non other then Leroy Jethro Gibbs leveling a deadpan stare at them.

"Coffee boss?" Tony was the first to recover and he proffered the cup of joe like a peace offering. Tony held it extended for a long moment before Gibbs eventually reached up to snag the cup with the casual air of someone who knew they weren't getting the whole story but would take the blessed caffeine anyway.

"So are you done with your personal errand DiNozzo?" Gibb's emphasis on the N was a sure sign that he was annoyed, mildly annoyed perhaps because he now had coffee, but annoyed non-the-less.

"Uh yeah boss, just a little mix up with a delivery. Got us lunch though, " he said as he extended the brown deli bag as a final token to buy his way off Gibb's shit list.

Gibb's eyed it for a moment before snagging it the same way he had the coffee and said, "Grab your gear, we got a Navy dependent claiming someone has been entering her apartment at night while she's sleeping."

Tony and Tim nodded and swiftly stepped out of the elevator so that they could retrieve their respective bags. They returned just as quickly as Gibb's impatiently held the elevator.

The trip down was decidedly awkward and strangely it was Gibb's who broke the silence.

"So what was so important that you had to take care of DiNozzo?"

Tony's jaw dropped opened he almost answered automatically but some part of his brain was screaming to tread lightly. Tim however had no such filter.

"They delivered his new mattress early, so they were going to leave it on the corner if we didn't show up to move it in." Now it might of sounded like Tim was backing his partner up, but Tony was suspicious.

"A new mattress?" Gibbs said before taking a long sip of his coffee. No doubt the concept of buying new furniture before the old furniture fell apart was a foreign idea.

"Yeah, he got a bigger bed." Tim supplied, seemingly nonchalantly.

Now all this seemed innocuous and innocent enough, but Gibbs looked speculative and his pointer finger was now tapping his coffee cup slowly. If only DiNozzo senior had not shared his incredulity that his adult son was sleeping in a twin bed and his belief that Tony was keeping women at arms length this way, maybe then the information that he was changing his sleeping arrangements would not be such a big deal.

Tim apparently was not done however, as he just had to add, "So who's picking Ziva up from the airport tomorrow?"

Tony wanted to slap his own forehead, or the back of little Timmy's head. Oh this had to be payback for years of probie hazing. It had seemed like fun at the time…

"I am McGee. I told you that this morning," he grit out while glaring at McGee, while they stood slightly behind Gibb's. Gibb's shifted causing both agents to look at him wandering if he was going to comment.

"Right, sorry must have forgot," Tim replied with just enough cheek that Tony was sure that this was no mistake and Tim was just messing with him because he could. Well just wait little McGeekster. You mess with the bull you get the horns and Tim, well Tim was messing with the wrong bull!

Finally the elevator hit the ground level. As the exited the elevator each was occupied by the their own thoughts, and someone passing by would be struck by the silent communication going on. One was stoic, looking slightly like a father with some squabbling son's on a family trip. The youngest looked oddly smug and very aware of the man to his right's ire, and the man on the right appeared highly annoyed and possibly vengeful if the devious look in his eyes were any indication.

NCIS II

Later that day Tony walked to his car deep in thought. The case had been simple enough and they had a suspect in custody within three hours. A record really. The problem wasn't the case so much, but what he would have to do to Timothy McGee in retribution for the those insinuations he was making.

If he was being reasonable he could say that Tim was just poking a little fun at his expense. It wasn't as though there was something going on between Ziva and himself, and the bed purchase had absolutely nothing to do with her. She was a person he cared about a lot, and he was happy that he was there for her when she needed it.

And it just so happened that seeing her in his bed made him rethink its size. I mean come on. If Ziva looked so small and child like, innocent really, in the bed, how did he look every night? Not to mention that thing was so small he couldn't even of climbed in with her if she had wanted…oh what kind of thought was tha..

"Hey Tony!"

Tony stopped his inner discord to look around for the owner of the voice. He was not disappointed to see a petite blonde waving at him from across the parking lot.

"Hey Kimmie. Looking lovely as usual."

The blonde made her way to him, a pretty smile decorating her heart shaped face. She really was a lovely woman, small curves and short curling blond hair down to her chin. It didn't hurt that she had a sweet personality.

"Tony you are a shameless flirt as usual." In a way she reminded him of his ex-fiancé.

"So what brings you to Navy yard today?" Tony asked looking around for her usual companions.

"Today's the final test for the bomb sniffing dogs. So I came to see who's not passing." Kimmie shifted and pulled the oversized purse up higher on her sun kissed shoulder. The sun glinted off her platinum wedding band as she did so.

"Oh yeah, you finally convinced the hubs to get a dog. Nice, do the boys know yet?"

Kimmie smiled, "Not yet, the oldest turns five on Tuesday so it's going to be a surprise."

Tony shook his head, "Wow it's been five years already?" It had been five years of shameless flirting with this married woman as she visited her military husband on base. The first time he had met here she had been pregnant and carrying an armful of treats that she baked for the navy wives meeting. He had helped her carry them after he noticed her struggling to get across the base.

"Yeah, five years, and Toby will be so excited to get a dog. I can't wait to see his reaction."

"Hey that's great, and you know what you could name him?" He smiled cheekily.

"Let me guess…Tony?"

Tony pretended to look shocked. "What? Well I mean if you want to name the dog Tony I guess I would be okay with that…"

He trailed off as he noticed her good natured glare. "Yeah not exactly what I was thinking, plus my husband already isn't your biggest fan."

"He's not? Huh…" Tony was well aware that Ethan Hendrik was not a huge fan and it would be odd if he was, since Tony shamelessly flirted with his wife on several occasions.

"Well I'm gonna head in. It was good to see you Tony."

"Good to see you Kimmie." He replied as she turned to walk away, and Tony stood there a minute watching her walk away. She had a nice little sway in her walk. He wondered if she knew she was being watched. Probably.

Their flirting seemed mutually beneficial. She got confirmation that she was a beautiful and desirable woman, and not just a mommy.

He got…well beside the obvious fun of flirting with a pretty woman. He got a fantasy…Kimmie Hendrik represented the life that he almost had. The road he almost traveled. The pretty, loving wife, couple of kids, and now a dog. Sometimes he wondered if that was a route he was ever going to take. If he ever wanted that. Maybe flirting with another man's wife was as close as he was ever going to get, but even as he thought it didn't sit right with him.

Giving himself a shake Tony resumed walking to his car. He glanced across the lot at Ziva's car. It had sat at NCIS since the night he drove her to his apartment. Tomorrow he would pick her up in her car and then she would drop him back off at work before heading back to her apartment. It would be good to have her back.

Now back to Tim. He needed to make him pay and super gluing his keyboard had already been done…

NCIS II

AN: Alright please read and review! Also, I need ideas for Tony's revenge on McGee! Please send me any ideas for pranks or ways that Tony could get back at his dear partner. Tiva moments to come in the next chapter!


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